UFO sighted over the Lehigh Valley and Berks County
Spotted Sunday Morning
Near Reading. Credit: Robert War
Over 422 in Berks County. Credit: Jamie Roberts
Taken in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Credit: Michael Witmer
Taken outside of Boyertown on route 73 at 6:10 AM right before it disappeared. Credit: Robert Haldemansr.
Sunday morning just before dawn, there was an odd sight in the skies over Berks County and the Lehigh Valley.
It looked like a big comet. Yet, there were no comets passing near us today.
It kind of looked like a big meteor. But, the meteor trail wasn’t pointing up.
So was this a UFO?
No.
We get can rid of the “U” in Unidentified Flying Object for you: it was rocket.
69 News viewers in Berks County and Warren County saw the exhaust from a rocket that was launched in Florida.
Falcon 9 launches Starlink to orbit pic.twitter.com/BXtM7I3t5M
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2021
This is not the first time we’ve seen the exhaust from a rocket in our skies.
When NASA launches a rocket from their Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia, we can see the rocket exhaust clouds if our skies are clear.
A rocket launching from Wallops Island, Virginia, in 2019. Credit: Marty McGuire
But, a few things have to happen so we can see the exhaust clouds from a rocket launched in Florida right here in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
First, we near clear skies.
Second, the rocket has to be launched before dawn. Sunday’s launch happened about an hour before sunrise.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/V3vn9PolF0
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2021
Third, the rocket has to launch at a certain time: the sun needs to be up over the Atlantic Ocean (east of the rocket), but not yet up over the east coast.
Changing the clocks Saturday night made it possible for us to see the rocket exhaust: the sun was at the right angle and position in the sky to illuminate the rocket exhaust so that we could see it.
Had we not changed the clocks, the sun would not have been in the correct position when the rocket launched Sunday morning around 6 a.m.
When a rocket launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, it is impressive.
Take a look at the launch of a communications satellite in 2017:
While that rocket had one satellite, right at the tip of the rocket, Sunday morning’s rocket had 60 satellites.
They were all Starlink Satellites. Starlink is a project by SpaceX, a company owned by Elon Musk.
Deployment of 60 Starlink satellites confirmed pic.twitter.com/AMLK4R9dMn
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2021
The company is creating a network of low orbiting satellites that will provide high speed internet for people down here on Earth.
The project will service parts of the United States and parts of the world that don’t have access to high speed internet.
Starlink isn’t the only company looking to change that. Amazon also has plans to create a satellite internet network.
Right now, Starlink is charging $99 per month for the service, but there is very limited availability. The company is just starting up the service.
To date, over a third of all satellite in space are Starlink satellites.
If you took a picture or video of Sunday mornings “U”FO, please send it to your weather team: weather@wfmz.com. We’d love to include it in this article or on our newscast. Thank you!
Thanks to Antonio Castillo for sending in that video of the rocket over Phillipsburg, N.J. and to Gregg Wagner for sending in the video toward the top of the page of the rocket over Berk County.
*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from WFMZ Allentown can be found here ***
